Primitive Man: Scorn (2013)

Hyperbolically Dark

I think I’ve heard a song or two from Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire, but I’ve never been all that interested in them. But the band’s vocalist/guitarist seems bent on grabbing the attention of people who share my taste. He recently became the vocalist/guitarist for Withered, the incredible blackened sludge band, and he also fronts side project Primitive Man.

Primitive Man is doomier and noisier than Withered, but there is definitely a common thread. PM also shares a few characteristics with Dragged into Sunlight, inhabiting a genre-nonspecific realm of disturbingly violent chaos where feedback squelches any sense of reprieve in the spaces between misanthropic notes.


Scorn is an exercise in terror. The record primarily consists of mid-paced sludge of the most vitriolic strain, interspersed with very slow riffs where the amp itself becomes the central instrument. They also throw in some crusty high-speed assaults between the brooding, or ambient sections with unnerving static, noise, or the heavy breathing of a serial killer anticipating his catch.

Extra-raw vocals flesh out Primitive Man’s hyperbolically dark take on extreme sludge. Ultimately the songs themselves aren’t all that memorable, but the impression it leaves is quite distinct.

The Verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars